U.S. patent number 5,293,513 [Application Number 07/681,819] was granted by the patent office on 1994-03-08 for switching system for automotive vehicle including a reflector positioned below a sight line of a driver.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Hiroaki Ideno, Takeshi Inoue, Yoshisada Mizutani, Masaharu Umezu.
United States Patent |
5,293,513 |
Umezu , et al. |
March 8, 1994 |
Switching system for automotive vehicle including a reflector
positioned below a sight line of a driver
Abstract
A switch system for an automotive vehicle enables the driver to
properly operate various devices mounted on the vehicle without
reducing or limiting the driver's field of view to any practical
extent. In one form, the switch system includes a plurality of
switches for operating various devices mounted on the vehicle; a
switch selection detector for detecting which one of the switches
is selected by a driver; a display for displaying the result of a
driver's switch selection detected by the switch selection detector
as well as the operating conditions of the devices as a result of
the driver's switch selection; and a reflector in the form of a
half mirror provided at a location above a dash board for
reflecting the contents of the display so that the driver can watch
the displayed contents of the display as reflected on the
reflector. In another form, the reflector is omitted and the
display is provided at a location above a dash board and below the
driver's sight line through a front windshield so as not to reduce
the driver's forward viewing field through the windshield so that
the driver can watch the displayed contents of the display while
watching the road ahead.
Inventors: |
Umezu; Masaharu (Amagasaki,
JP), Ideno; Hiroaki (Amagasaki, JP),
Mizutani; Yoshisada (Amagasaki, JP), Inoue;
Takeshi (Amagasaki, JP) |
Assignee: |
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki
Kaisha (Tokyo, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
15309961 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/681,819 |
Filed: |
April 8, 1991 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
May 30, 1990 [JP] |
|
|
2-142210 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
307/10.1;
307/112 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B
27/01 (20130101); G02B 2027/0187 (20130101); B60K
2370/154 (20190501); G02B 2027/0165 (20130101); B60K
2370/334 (20190501); G02B 2027/0154 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G02B
27/01 (20060101); G02B 27/00 (20060101); B60Q
001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;307/9.1,10.1,112,125,139 ;340/945,933,971,972 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
|
|
0371873 |
|
Jun 1990 |
|
EP |
|
0005436 |
|
Nov 1981 |
|
DE |
|
3628333 |
|
Mar 1988 |
|
DE |
|
57-182540 |
|
Nov 1982 |
|
JP |
|
58-22732 |
|
Feb 1983 |
|
JP |
|
190031 |
|
Dec 1984 |
|
JP |
|
59-227531 |
|
Dec 1984 |
|
JP |
|
Primary Examiner: Gaffin; Jeffrey A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak and
Seas
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A switch system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
a plurality of switches disposed in a predetermined spatial
orientation for operating various devices mounted on the
vehicle;
a switch selection detector for detecting which one of said
switches is selected by a driver;
display means for displaying the result of a driver's switch
selection detected by said switch selection detector as well as the
operating conditions of the devices as a result of the driver's
switch selection; and
a reflector, provided at a location above a dash board, for
reflecting the contents of said display means, said reflector
providing the displayed contents of said display means to the
driver along a display viewing sight line, which is oriented
substantially in a same direction as, but below, a driver forward
sight line,
wherein the reflected contents representative of the results of the
driver's manipulations of said switches are provided at locations
corresponding to the spatial orientation of said switches.
2. A switch system according to claim 1, wherein said reflector
comprises a half mirror positioned below said forward sight
line.
3. A switch system according to claim 1, wherein said reflector
comprises a front windshield having a lower portion. said lower
portion reflecting the contents of the display means along said
display viewing sight line.
4. A switch system according to claim 1, wherein said switches and
said switch selection detector are mounted on a steering wheel in a
facing relation to the driver.
5. A switch system according to claim 1, wherein said switches and
said switch selection detector are mounted on said devices.
6. A switch system according to claim 1, wherein each of said
switches includes an infrared LED and phototransistor pair, which
are disposed on opposite sides of a corresponding switch, each of
said infrared LEDs emitting a ray, that is detected by a
corresponding phototransistor, said LED and phototransistor pairs
detecting an interruption in a corresponding emitted ray when a
user selects a corresponding switch.
7. A switch system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
a plurality of switches disposed in a predetermined spatial
orientation for operating various devices mounted on the
vehicle;
a switch selection detector for detecting which one of said
switches is selected by a driver; and
display means for displaying the result of a driver's switch
selected detected by said switch selection detector as well as the
operating conditions of the devices as a result of the driver's
switch selection, said display means being provided at a location
above a dash board and below the driver's sight line through a
front windshield so as not to reduce the driver's field of forward
view through the windshield so that the driver can watch the
displayed contents of said display means while watching the road
ahead;
wherein contents of the display representative of the results of
the driver's manipulations of said switches are provided at
locations corresponding to the spatial orientation of said
switches.
8. A switch system according to claim 7, wherein said switches and
said switch selection detector are mounted on a steering wheel in a
facing relation to the driver.
9. A switch system according to claim 7, wherein said switches and
said switch selection detector are mounted on said devices.
10. A switch system according to claim 7, wherein each of said
switches includes an infrared LED and phototransistor pair, which
are disposed on opposite sides of a corresponding switch, each of
said infrared LEDs emitting a ray, that is detected by a
corresponding phototransistor, said LED an phototransistor pairs
detecting and interruption in a corresponding emitted ray when a
user selects a corresponding switch.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a switch system for an automotive
vehicle which is used for controlling, from a driver's compartment,
various pieces of equipment such as a radio, an air conditioner, a
road-condition and traffic-information displaying device mounted on
the vehicle.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-67516 discloses a typical example
of such a switch system for an automotive vehicle as illustrated in
FIG. 18. The vehicle illustrated includes a steering wheel 102
mounted on the top of a steering column 144 for operation by a
driver 101, an instrument panel 103, an instrument panel hood 107,
and a front windshield 108. A switch means 139 is installed on the
steering column 144. A driver's sight line through the front
windshield 108 and another driver's sight line directed to the
instrument panel 103 are designated by reference numerals 109 and
140, respectively.
FIG. 19 shows one example of a display pattern 141 on the
instrument panel 103 which includes four functions of television
(TV), navigation (NAVI), audio (AUDIO) and air conditioning (A/C)
designated by 0 through 3, respectively, with the function 1 of
navigation "NAVI" being now selected.
FIG. 20 shows an example of the switch means 139 which has a pair
of side switch columns 145, 146 mounted on opposite sides of the
steering columns 144 and extending therefrom in a horizontal
manner, a pair of rotary switches 142, 143 mounted on the ends of
the side switch columns 145, 146, respectively, and a pair of set
switches 147, 148 provided on the heads or tops of the rotary
switches 142, 143, respectively.
In operation, the functions of the set switches 147, 148 are
indicated by the display pattern 141 and can be selected by the
driver 101 by rotating the rotary switches 142, 143. By pushing one
of the set switches 147, 148 with a desired function selected by a
corresponding one of the rotary switches 142, 143, a switching
operation for performing the selected function in done. For
example, if the driver 101 depresses one of the set switches 147,
148 with a particular display condition of the instrument panel 103
(e.g., "NAVI" selected as illustrated in FIG. 19), the
corresponding function or device (e.g., an unillustrated navigator)
is turned on. In this manner, using the above-described switch
system, the driver 101 is able to control various pieces of
equipment provided in the vehicle by only slightly shifting his or
her sight line from the outward line of sight 109 suitable for
looking at the road or objects ahead of the vehicle through the
front windshield 108 into the inward line of sight 140 directed
toward the instrument panel 103 while continuously watching the
road condition ahead of the vehicle to some extent. This serves for
improved safety in driving.
With the above-mentioned automotive switch system, however, the
functions carried out by depressing the set switch 147, 148 is
displayed inside the instrument panel 103 so that the driver 101
has to shift his or her sight line to the instrument panel 103 to
some extent in order to ascertain the functions to be performed in
accordance with the setting of the set switches 147, 148. This
results in an appreciable deviation from the outwardly directed
line of sight 109 through the front windshield 108 necessary for
safe driving, thus reducing or limiting the driver's field of
forward view to some extent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is intended to obviate the abovedescribed
problems encountered with the conventional switch system.
An object of the present invention is to provide a switch system
for an automotive vehicle which enables the driver to properly
operate various devices mounted on the vehicle without reducing or
limiting the driver's field of view to any practical extent.
In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of
the invention, there is provided a switch system for an automotive
vehicle comprising:
a plurality of switches for operating various devices mounted on
the vehicle;
a switch selection detector for detecting which one of the switches
is selected by a driver;
display means for displaying the result of a driver's switch
selection detected by the switch selection detector as well as the
operating conditions of the devices as a result of the driver's
switch selection; and
a reflector provided at a location above a dash board for
reflecting the contents of the display means so that the driver can
watch the displayed contents of the display means as reflected on
the reflector while watching the road ahead.
In one embodiment, the reflector comprises a half mirror.
In another embodiment, the reflector comprises a front
windshield.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a
switch system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
a plurality of switches for operating various devices mounted on
the vehicle;
a switch selection detector for detecting which one of the switches
is selected by a driver; and
display means for displaying the result of a driver's switch
selection detected by the switch selection detector as well as the
operating conditions of the devices as a result of the driver's
switch selection, the display means being provided at a location
above a dash board and below the driver's sight line through a
front windshield so as not to reduce the driver's field of forward
view through the windshield, so that the driver can watch the
displayed contents of the display means while watching the road
ahead.
In one preferred form, the switches and the switch selection
detector are mounted on a steering wheel.
In one preferred form, the switches and the switch selection
detector are mounted on the devices.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will become more readily apparent from the following
detailed description of several preferred embodiments of the
invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the general arrangement of a
switch system for an automotive vehicle in accordance with a first
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the switch system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a switch means of the switch
system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line IV-IV of FIG.
3;
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a field of forward view
through a front windshield;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a first operating condition
of the switch means of FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a second operating condition
of the switch means of FIG. 3;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a third operating condition
of the switch means of FIG. 3;
FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a basic operation of the switch
system of the first embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a more complicated operation of the
switch system of the first embodiment;
FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 1; but showing an automotive
switch system in accordance with a second embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the second
embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing the second
embodiment the invention;
FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing an automotive
switch system in accordance with a third embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing a further
embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing a further
embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 17 is a view similar of FIG. 2, but showing a further
embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a conventional
automotive switch system;
FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing an example of a display
pattern of the conventional switch system of FIG. 18; and
FIG. 20 is a view showing the construction of switches of the
conventional switch system.
In the drawings, the same or corresponding elements are identified
by the same symbols.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Several preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be
described in detail while referring to the accompanying
drawings.
Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the general arrangement of
a switch system for an automotive vehicle constructed in accordance
with a first embodiment of the invention. The automotive vehicle
illustrated includes a steering wheel 2 mounted on the top of a
steering column 2a so as to be operated by a driver 1, an
instrument panel 3, an instrument panel hood 7 disposed atop the
instrument panel 3, and a front windshield 8 through which the
driver 1 can watch the road ahead of the vehicle on which it is
travelling. The switch system of this embodiment includes a display
means 4 such as a liquid crystal display, a fluorescent display,
etc., a switch unit 5 mounted on the steering wheel 2, and a
reflector 6 in the form of a half mirror mounted on a dash board
for reflecting the contents of the display means 4, and a control
unit 13 (see FIG. 2) for controlling the display means 4 and
various devices (not shown) mounted on the vehicle on the basis of
information input from the switch unit 5. As clearly shown in FIG.
1, a driver's forward sight line 9 through the front windshield 8
and a driver's display-viewing sight line 10 directed to the
display means 4 are oriented substantially in the same
direction.
As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2, the switch unit 5
comprises a manipulative switch means 11 and a switch selection
detector 12. The control unit 13 includes an interface 14 which is
connected to the manipulative switch means 11, the switch selection
detector 12 and to unillustrated vehicle-mounted devices via a
control/status line 17 in the form of a bus, a central processing
unit (CPU) 15, and a memory 16 for storing information, data,
programs executed by the CPU 15, etc. Also, the control unit 13
reads out the present statuses or operating conditions of the
vehicle-mounted devices through the control/status line 17, and
controls the display means 4 based thereon.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the detailed construction of one example of the
switch unit 5. The manipulative switch means 11 includes a
plurality (e.g., four in the illustrated example) of switches
11a-11d, and the switch selection detector 12 includes a plurality
of pairs of infrared LEDs 19a-19d and phototransistors 20a-20d
which are disposed in pair on the opposite sides of the
corresponding switches 11a-11d in alignment with each other. The
infrared LEDs 19a-19d emit infrared rays toward the corresponding
phototransistors 20a-20d. The phototransistors 20a-20d detect
infrared rays from the corresponding infrared LEDs 19a-19d for
determining which one of the switches 11a-11d is selected by the
driver 1. Specifically, in the illustrated example, the switches
11a-11d are of a push-button type so that when the driver 1 pushes
down the switch 11a for example, one of his or her fingers pushing
the switch 11a interrupts infrared rays from the corresponding
infrared LED 19a. As a result, the corresponding phototransistor
20a fails to receive the infrared rays from the infrared LED 19a,
thus detecting that the driver 1 has selected the switch 11a.
FIG. 5 shows the driver's field of view in accordance with this
first embodiment in which a pattern, corresponding to that shown in
FIG. 6, indicative of a function selected by the driver 1 is
displayed on the half mirror 6 which is mounted on the dash board
or instrument panel hood 7 and extends therefrom obliquely.
FIGS. 6 through 8 show some examples of patterns displayed on the
display means 4. The patterns to be displayed include a set of
device-operating-condition indicating patterns 21 and a set of
corresponding switch-selection indicating patterns 22. The
arrangement or layout of the switch-selection indicating patterns
22 corresponds to that of the manipulative switch means 11 on the
steering wheel 2. For example, the device-operating-condition
indicating patterns 21 include a radio-operating-condition
indicting pattern 21a, an air-conditioner-operating-condition
indicating patterns 21b, a navigator-operating-condition indicating
pattern 21d. When the driver 1 is manipulating the switch 11a for
example, the pair of corresponding infrared LED 19a and
phototransistor 20a cooperate to detect the selection of the switch
11a by the driver 1, as described above. Based on this detection,
the corresponding switch-selection indicating pattern 22a is turned
on, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Subsequently, when the switch 11a has
been pushed down by the driver 1, the corresponding
radio-operating-condition indicating pattern 21a is then turned on,
as shown in FIG. 7. Thereafter, the device-operating-condition
indicating patterns 21a-21d are changed into new display patterns
21a-21d related to the operation of the thus selected radio for
further selection by the driver 1.
Now, the basic operation of the above embodiment will be described
in detail while referring to the flow chart of FIG. 9. First in
Step 23, based on the result of detection of the switch selection
detector 12, it is determined whether any of the switches 11a-11d
is selected by the driver 1. If not, Step 23 is repeated. If the
answer is "YES", a corresponding switch-selection indicating
pattern 22a for example is displayed on the display means 4 and
reflected on the half mirror 7 in Step 24, as depicted in FIG. 6.
In this state, the reflected patterns on the half mirror 7 indicate
that the air conditioner is already on and the radio has now been
selected. Subsequently, in Step 25, it is once again determined
whether any of the switches 11a-11d is selected. If the answer is
"NO", the program goes to Step 27 where it is determined that the
driver 1 stopped the switch manipulation, and hence the presently
displayed patterns 21a, 22a are erased or turned off. Thereafter,
the program returns to Step 23. In this connection, the erasure of
the display can be effected after the lapse of a predetermined
time. On the other hand, if the answer is "YES" in Step 25, the
program goes to Step 26 where it is determined whether there is a
change between the present selection of a switch and the last
selection. If the answer is "YES", the program returns to Step 24
for updating the display means 4 in correspondence with the changed
switch selection. Looking at the thus updated display patterns
reflected by the half mirror 6, the driver 1 can ascertain or
change the switch selection. On the other hand, if there is no
change in the switch selection in Step 26, the program goes to Step
28 where it is further determined whether any switch is operated by
the driver 1. If the answer is "NO", the program returns to Step
25. If, however, the answer is "YES", the program goes to Step 29
where the control unit 13 controls a corresponding device mounted
on the vehicle in accordance with the driver's switch manipulation,
and thereafter the program returns to Steps 24 where the control
unit 13 accordingly controls the display means 4 so as to display
an appropriate indication of the result of such control. FIG. 7
shows such a situation in which the display means 4 indicates that
the radio is now turned on as a result of the driver's switch
operation.
Although the above-described operation is a basic one such as for
performing the on-off control of a vehicle-mounted device, a finer
or more complicated operation can be done by the above embodiment.
Such an operation will now be described in detail with particular
reference to FIG. 10 as well as FIGS. 7 and 8. In FIG. 10, Steps 23
through 29 are the same as those in FIG. 9, and hence a detailed
description thereof is omitted. After the vehicle-mounted device
(i.e., the radio in the illustrated example) is controlled by the
control unit 13 in Step 29, the present statuses of the
vehicle-mounted device including the radio is displayed as
appropriate patterns on the display means 4 in Step 30. FIG. 7
shows one example of such display patterns. Then in Step 31,
waiting is performed for a predetermined time T1 in order to allow
the driver 1 to visually recognize the patterns displayed in Step
30. After the lapse of a predetermined time T1, further detailed
operating conditions related to the selected device are displayed
on the display means 4 in Step 32. FIG. 8 shows an example of such
detailed operating conditions in the form of radio operation
details as displayed in which a band selection switch for the AM
band has now been operated with the radio being tuned to the FM
band. The following Steps 33, 34 and 35 are similar to Steps 25, 26
and 28, respectively. First in Step 33, it is determined whether ny
of the switches 11a-11d is selected by the driver 1. If no switch
is selected, the contents on the display means 4 are erased in Step
27 and then the program returns to Step 23. If some switch is
selected in Step 33, it is then determined in Step 34 whether the
switch now selected is different form the one last selected. If the
answer is YES", the program returns to Step 32 for updating the
detailed contents of the display means 4 so as to reflect the
changed switch selection. If, however, there is no change in the
switch selection, it is further determined in Step 35 whether there
is any switch selection subsequently performed. If the answer is
"NO", the program returns to Step 33, whereas if the answer is
"YES", the program goes to Step 36 where the control unit 13
controls the vehicle-mounted device in accordance with the driver's
switch operation. Thereafter, the program returns to Step 32 for
displaying the detailed operating conditions representative of the
result of such control.
As described in the foregoing, according to the first embodiment,
the contents of the display means 4 is reflected on the half mirror
6 located above the dash board or instrument panel hood 7 so that
the driver's sight line 9 for looking through the front windshield
8 at the road ahead of the vehicle and the driver's sight line 10
for watching the contents of the display 4 become substantially the
same direction, enabling the driver 1 to ascertain the result of a
switch operation as well as the condition of switch selection while
continuously watching a forward view through the front windshield
8. In this embodiment, however, the use of the half mirror 6 result
sin an increased cost of manufacture.
FIG. 11 shows a second embodiment of the invention which can be
manufactured at lower costs than the first embodiment. In this
second embodiment, a display means 4' is provided on or above a
dash board or an instrument panel hood 7 at a location slightly
below the driver's field of forward view through the front
windshield 8, i.e., just below the driver's normal or lowermost
sight line 9 directed to the outside through the windshield 8, so
that the driver 1 can directly see the contents of the display
means 4' above the instrument panel hood 7. In this case, the
driver's sight line 10 directed toward the display means 4' is
substantially the same as that directed toward the half mirror 6 of
FIG. 1.
FIG. 12 shows, in a block form, the schematic construction of the
second embodiment which is substantially the same as that of the
first embodiment of FIG. 2 except for the half mirror 6 being
omitted.
FIG. 13 illustrates the driver's normal field of forward view as
obtained with the second embodiment, in which patterns are
displayed on the display means 4' above the instrument panel hood
7.
The operation of the second embodiment is substantially similar to
that of the first embodiment excepting that the various operating
conditions and statuses of unillustrated vehicle-mounted devices
and the switch means 11a-11d are directly displayed as
corresponding patterns on the display means 4'. Like the first
embodiment, since in the second embodiment the driver's forward
sight line directed through the front windshield 8 and the driver's
sight line watching the contents of the display 4' become
substantially the same direction, the driver can make sure of the
result of his or her switch operation as well as the condition of
his or her switch selection without shifting his or her lien of
sight to any appreciable extent.
Although in the first embodiment, the half mirror 6 located above
the instrument panel hood 7 is used, a front windshield 8' can be
utilized as a half mirror for reflecting the contents of a display
means 4 located below an instrument panel hood 7, as illustrated in
FIG. 14.
Further, in the above-described embodiments, the switch unit 5
includes the manipulative switch means 11 and the switch selection
detector 12 both provided on the steering wheel 2, but the switch
selection detector 12 may be installed on manipulative or control
switches for vehicle-mounted devices. For example, it can be
installed on manipulative switches which are mounted on a surface
of a radio, an air conditioner and the like, on power window
control switches, on control switches for remote-controlled rear
view mirrors, etc. FIG. 15 shows such an embodiment in which a
switch selection detector 12' is mounted on a radio 37 for
detecting the selection of a radio manipulative switch 38 by the
driver, and the status such as the operating condition of the radio
37 (e.g., the radio 37 is tuned to 80.2 MHZ in the FM band) is
displayed at the display means 4' of FIG. 11 or at the half mirror
6 of FIG. 1 or at the front windshield 8' of FIG. 14.
FIG. 16 shows, in a block form, a schematic construction of a
switch system as constructed by applying the principles of FIG. 15
to the first embodiment of FIG. 1. In this case, a switch means 11'
is incorporated in a vehicle-mounted device in the form of a radio
37. The remaining construction of this FIG. 16 embodiment is
similar to that of FIG. 2.
FIG. 17 shows, in a block form, another embodiment of a switch
system as constructed by applying the principles of the FIG. 15 to
the second embodiment. In this case, a switch means 11" is
incorporated in a vehicle-mounted device in the form of a radio 37.
The remaining construction of this FIG. 17 embodiment is similar to
that of FIG. 12.
Moreover, although in the above embodiments, the switch means 11,
11', 11", the patterns 21 indicative of the operating conditions of
vehicle-mounted devices, and patterns 22 indicative of the
condition of the driver's switch selection are laid out in a
one-dimensional manner, they may be laid out in a two-dimensional
manner.
In addition, it should be noted that although in the above
embodiments, the switch selection detectors 12, 12' are of a
photoelectric type including the infrared LEDs 19 and the
phototransistors 20, it is not intended to limit this invention
thereto and they may be of other types such as an electrostatic
capacity type in which an electrode is provided on a surface of a
manipulative switch, which is to be contacted by fingers of the
driver, for detecting a contact thereto by a driver's finger
through a change in the electrostatic capacity of a capacitor
connected to the electrode.
* * * * *